I just came back from the sixth annual “What’s New, What’s Next” event at the New York Design Center. What a great time I had!

Louisa and Allyson joined me for a fun night in the city!

The energy in the building was amazing….. Over 70 showrooms participated in the event that featured product introductions, informative lectures, and book signings all day long.

As mentioned before, I had the privilege of joining Traditional Home Senior Design and Market Editor Tori Mellot in a panel on mixing traditional and modern design.

Chad Graci of Graci Interiors and Katie Lydon of Katie Lydon Interiors discussed with us how incorporating modern touches into spaces can push- but not overstep- the boundaries of traditional design.

All of us before the panel.

We were given ten items ahead of time that were a mix of modern and traditional, and we were asked to distinguish how we would balance the modern with more traditional pieces and the traditional pieces with more modern ones.

Below are a few of the images given to us and my interpretations for each.

I could see placing this modern chandelier into a similar breakfast area. The scale of the piece would obviously need to be smaller and I would balance the hard lines of it with some sort of upholstery and wooden dining table like below.

I love this piece and would not hesitate to place it in one of my interiors. I would soften the piece by placing something upholstered under it, such as the style of the two stools in the picture below.

Dana Wolter Interiors

As for the top of the console, I would create a layered vignette, with a piece of artwork or a mirror as my starting point, such as below.

Dana Wolter Interiors

A final image I would like to share are these Bolier nesting tables.

I love these tables as they are very versatile and could be used in many different interiors. I could have easily replaced the Baker tables in the picture below with one set of these.

Dana Wolter Interiors

I would also have used the tables near upholstery that is skirted, as shown in the image below.

Dana Wolter Interiors

“What’s New, What’s Next” continues to unite the industry and become a benchmark for introducing new products and celebrating the very best in design. Thank you, Traditional Home, for including me in the discussion. I was extremely honored.